ShakeAlert: An Earthquake Early Warning System for the United States West Coast

Abstract

A well-developed public earthquake early warning (EEW) system has been operating in Japan since October 2007. At the time of the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake and tsunami (also known as 3.11), several million people near the epicenter received theEEWabout 15 to 20 seconds before the most severe shaking occurred, and many more people in surrounding districts had greater lead time before less severe shaking started. Some 90% of these people were able to take advance actions to save their own lives and those of family members or to take other actions according to prior planning. Some actions were taken based on intuitive responses to the alerts. This high rate of effectiveness is assured to be the result of education regarding the EEW system, both in schools and in society at large. In spite of some shortcomings, the proven effectiveness of EEW has led Japan to strengthen the already extensive seismic- and tsunami-monitoring networks offshore, east of the Japan island arc at 150 sites, and to provide a special terminal for advanced uses of EEW in schools with more than 53,000 students. Efforts are also underway to improve analysis and dissemination schemes. © 2013, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute.